No Sound (We) Made
by Beckon
Summary: The screaming. The bellowing of war-horns that followed after. It was coming from behind them- screaming somewhere either before or after the first outpost. Only a few miles behind them. Tanya felt that itch of coldness in her chest, the shaking in her hands again at the sound. [post-MKX!AU]


The first warning was the silence.

Outworld was hardly a place, let alone a realm of silence.

And even in the rare moments that there _was_ silence, it wasn't by any means good.

It was the classic tale of nature knowing when something more powerful had come to breathe. And considering the kinds of creatures that Outworld harbored, it wasn't often that there was something that could terrify all of them into hiding.

But as Tanya stood out amongst the silence, all she could hear was the subtle whistle of the warm breeze blowing by.

She never realized how unsettling the silence was.

The realm had been filled with the usual shrieks and calls of the nightly creatures just hours before. It had been filled with the huffing of the working mules in the marketplace, with the light chatter of the night people and the late-night travelers.

The early mornings, as quiet as they were during the dawn hours, were hardly ever this still.

There was always traffic and work starting up.

There was always the sound of the labor beasts bellowing as they were pulled from their stables- which was often followed by the cursing of the workers as they fought with the beasts.

But now, there was nothing.

Just the stark silence of those same beasts now cowering in their stalls, of those same workers hiding behind locked doors. The silence of every wild creature tucked under any root and shadow that it could find and fit. Nightly traders and travelers had given up their prime working hours and had paid to sleep in a brothel, in any building that would provide a door that could be closed.

Tanya felt herself jump as something touched her from behind and quickly yanked her arm out of reach, shooting a scathing look at the perpetrator.

"We need to keep moving," Rain spoke, unaffected by her look- let alone her behavior.

It was easy to see that he knew something was wrong too, that there was an uneasiness crawling itself across the realm. And for a man who had once served as Shao Kahn's General, Rain had seen his share of battles, his share of silence across the battlefield. But Tanya had never seen the man with such an ashen look like the one he had now.

But Rain wasn't focused on the silence.

There were more important things for him to be concerned with.

"The Osh-Tekk fires are already smoldering, they're on the move."

Right.

They had managed to get a good lead ahead of the tracking Osh-Tekk, but it wasn't much of a head-start.

If they wanted to stay alive, they needed to keep moving.

Tanya nodded and moved to follow him as Rain pulled away, shooting one last look over her shoulder as they started to depart.

* * *

As they traveled through the smaller cities and outposts of Outworld, the natural sounds of the realm slowly began to creep back- not by much, and not as quickly as they should have. There still seemed to be hesitation from even the smallest insect to chirp and let its existence be known.

It felt like everything was still crawling on its belly, crawling against the ground, trying to avoid suspicion- trying to avoid being caught.

A feeling the two of them were experiencing as well.

* * *

Silence may have greeted them that morning, but the conjoining night had decided to bring them something even worse.

Tanya woke already bathed in a cold sweat with her heart pounding in her chest, with the adrenaline in her blood reacting faster than her mind could comprehend what was happening. For the first of many nights, she found herself in a tight embrace of overwhelming fear- uncontrollable, unpredictable. And completely uncanny for her.

And yet, it gripped her tight at the throat; it paralyzed her limbs and made her completely forget about her Kobu-Justsu blades tucked under the mattress.

She waited, thinking the sound was something else- thinking that her imagination had brought the sound back to life.

But seconds later, it repeated itself.

Louder, sharper.

It sounded like a hundred voices screaming out in unison.

But they weren't human voices.

It didn't even sound remotely recognizable as belonging to anything that she had heard before.

Tanya felt Rain grab at her arm once more.

She felt the tightness in his grip, the desperation in his touch.

And she knew he had heard it as well.

For the longest time, it was just the two of them in frozen silence, listening to the faint roar of something growing in the distance. It sounded far off, but not far enough to provide any sense of comfort; not far enough to be convinced that whatever the source was, it couldn't make itself to them in a matter of hours- maybe even less given the fluctuation of the screaming voices.

Tanya felt her skin crawling again; she felt the occasional dig of Rain's grip, as though in reassurance that she was still there.

There was a pocket of silence, a momentary lapse in the screaming- just long enough for her to hear something else calling out into the night.

Something all too familiar.

The deep rolling bellow of an Osh-Tekk warhorn.

It wasn't the usual call however.

It wasn't the same warning call she and Rain had heard days before when the Osh-Tekk had been in quick pursuit of their trail. This wasn't a war-cry to alert the other Osh-Tekk units of their position, to tell the other units how to cut off their escape before they could reach it- hoping to end their month-long evasion after far too many close calls.

[They had still managed to escape, but only just barely.]

"They're in panic," Rain whispered, quiet in the pitch-dark of the hostel room. "Something's attacking them."

But what would attack the Osh-Tekk?

The Tarkatan army was long since gone.

The Shokan and Centaur clans stood no chance in fighting them.

And even while the occasional Osh-Tekk straggler became a victim to the Vampire clan, there weren't nearly enough of them to lodge a full-scale ambush. Even just the sighting of a Vampire attack party wouldn't be enough to justify a warning horn.

Nothing in Outworld would.

Tanya got to her feet, leaving the hostel bed and grabbing her blades from underneath it.

"We're leaving," she started.

Rain said nothing as he got to his feet just the same.

* * *

They abandoned the hostel in the middle of the night, taking their chances with whatever entity was also out there.

The screaming of the Osh-Tekk seemed to last for hours.

It echoed behind them as a continuous reminder.

* * *

It was dawn before the silence settled in once more.

Neither of them spoke about it.

The two of them made it to the next settlement by early morning; given that it only seemed to be occupied by traders and visiting travelers, it was more of an outpost than anything else. But it was still a sight to behold. After more than a couple of hours of traveling and listening to the ongoing screaming, Tanya felt exhausted- and admittedly, the sight of the small gathering of people was almost a relief. They had been doing well to avoid crowds, to avoid any place they could be recognized at, but after last night, there was this need of confirmation that what they had heard was real.

The outpost was small and inconspicuous anyways- and it was filled with the kind of people who would only give away information for coin. So if the Osh-Tekk did come around here asking for them, it would at least cost them a weighty sum to get some loosely-rumored answers.

That wasn't to say that the Osh-Tekk were above paying the asking price, but Kotal Kahn was not one to throw money on the ground.

It would give them some reprieve at least.

Tanya perused the vendors that had set up shop at the outpost, walking around the collection of traders until she had picked out an unsuspecting spot next to a group of women who seemed pale-faced and wide-eyed. She had heard them whispering about the sounds from last night- and while gossip from an outpost like this provided doubt in any sense of validity the women might've had, Tanya knew it wouldn't hurt to listen in.

Faking interest in some woven cloaks, Tanya kept her attention on the gossiping crowd.

"- the entire camp was wipe out," one of the women spoke, looking visibly uncomfortable as she did. A shaky hand pulled at her head wrap, closing it tighter around her shoulders, as though it provided comfort and security. "They said the bodies were torn apart, just completely massacred- some of them were even strung up like hanging meat."

"Do you think it was the Black Dragons? They've been too active around here lately," another woman questioned.

"No, nothing was taken from the camp apparently. All their weapons, wagons, and valuables were still there- and you know the Black Dragon would've stripped everything they could get their hands on."

Interesting theory.

"Did you hear those awful horns?" a third whispered, as though it was some kind of dark secret. "They were too short. The attack had to have been immediate; they had no chance to fight back."

It seemed like everyone had come to the same consensus about what they had all heard the night before.

Someone real curious, or real stupid, had actually rode out to the camp to investigate- something Tanya shouldn't have been surprised by. Outworld was a realm of mystery, far too much for Tanya's taste, but the people here also liked to have their answers. And some of them weren't too smart in how they would go about getting those answers.

But if what had been said was true...

Within just a few hours, something had wiped out an entire Osh-Tekk patrol and had left everything behind as a sign.

Everything in Outworld was a scavenger, so it was rare for bodies to be left out and for valuables to be untouched.

There weren't many things that would leave both bodies and valuables behind.

Tanya purchased two cloaks from the vendor after getting what felt like a death stare from the man. She didn't care for the scornful look, but after being on the run for almost a month now, she and Rain had gone through a multitude of disguises and covers- and they were due for a new one anyways. Departing from the vendor, she moved to regroup with Rain, who had stayed behind to speak with some of the caravan guards under the guise of getting directions.

They both knew where they were going.

But if the Osh-Tekk happened to drop by and pay the fee, then the caravan guards would point them in the wrong direction.

Rain was waiting for her at the outskirts of the settlement.

Already she could tell that he was studying something in the distance.

"We need to hurry, we've been here for too long," Rain spoke as she approached him, "the Osh-Tekk will know that we've been through here."

"If they're still around," Tanya noted.

"There's smoke from the East," he replied. "Another patrol is picking up. Cut one head off, two more will grow."

She knew he was right.

Even if something had happened to the patrol chasing them, it didn't mean that another wouldn't take up after. If anything, whatever had happened last night would give them an advantage. They were still the Osh-Tekk's main priority, but that didn't mean that a wrench hadn't been thrown into the Osh-Tekk's hunting plan. The clan would want to investigate what happened, to see the carnage for themselves.

Even if there were multiple patrols hunting for them, something like this would still buy them another head-start at the very least.

"Here," Tanya spoke, as she handed Rain one of the cloaks she had purchased. "It's not much but it'll be enough for now. When we leave this settlement, remove whatever can't be covered- including your veil."

It seemed unnecessary for her to say it, but she knew how he was.

The few Edenians who remained still adhered to the tradition of wearing a veil, with the exception of herself. Tanya had always found them to be tacky and they did little to hide someone's identity when used in that manner anyways. Not to mention, a veil just got in the way of many things and only made itself an additional hassle to take care of.

But Rain had grown up under the hand of an Edenian General. He carried himself proud and like royalty, holding the hands of tradition like they were a newborn babe.

It had been a battle to get him to take off his helmet and armor when they were first on the run- and even when he relented in doing so, he still kept the purple veil on. And despite the temptation to rip it apart while he slept, Tanya knew when to pick her battles. Given that they were both on the run from the same enemy, she couldn't risk picking a fight with him- especially given the delicate situation.

Perhaps if the veil was anything but purple then she wouldn't feel so strongly about the situation.

But it was noticeable- and people would notice it and they would remember it.

And the Osh-Tekk would know to look for it, to ask for it.

Rain looked frustrated but said nothing as they started away from the outpost, heading North now.

Once they were out of sight of the caravan guards, they slipped on the cloaks.

Tanya knew the cover wouldn't do much, but if they were careful and kept their distance, they could keep a very low profile with them on. And given Outworld's heat and sun, they would blend in more with the cloaks on anyways.

Tying the cloak tightly at the front, Tanya covered what she could with it- which ended up being more than enough. She could blend into a crowd with ease regardless, but this was just a little extra security now.

She watched as Rain inevitably pulled his veil off and even dared to let his hair down, allowing the black strands to fall across his shoulders now.

He didn't look happy about being out of his regal appearance, but he said nothing about it.

"Are you feeling alright?" Tanya questioned.

"It's fine," Rain assured, half-answering her, as he pulled the cloak around him and tied it- being careful to conceal the packed bandages at his right side.

She didn't believe him for a second on his word.

Despite the lack of proper sleep the night before, and the nights before that, Rain was functioning well enough, but there was no denying how exhausted he looked. Due to their Edenian heritage, they didn't need much sleep to function; they could thrive for a week with only six hours of it, which was what gave them such an advantage early on.

But the constant traveling and fighting was exhausting, and their need to stop and rest more and more was slowing them down to Osh-Tekk speed.

It didn't help that a week before, Rain had exercised a lot of his energy during yet another escape from the tracking Osh-Tekk. He had managed to drown most of the foot soldiers and had slowed down the remaining survivors by inadvertently creating quicksand during the skirmish.

A surprising trick that ended up saving their skin.

As well as bought them another head-start when the soft ground prevented the Osh-Tekk war wagons from moving- making them an easier target for her to burn down.

Despite the ongoing chaos of drowning soldiers and burning horses, the false Kahn's hired gunslinger still managed to land a shot through Rain's right side. The Demi-God hadn't noticed the wound during the adrenaline rush of escape, but the stress of the injury easily made itself known a few hours later, when they were clear of any Osh-Tekk patrol or chase.

Tanya knew that Rain was keeping the injury clean by using his water abilities, and was keeping it dry by the same power, but he had yet to stop and allow her to do more than the initial touch-up job on it.

Then again, they hadn't had much time to stop and do so.

The injury would be healing on its own, slower than needed given their constant moving, which meant that it would catch up to him eventually.

And it would slow him down, more than it already was.

And it would slow her down in return.

* * *

It was midday.

The sun had reached its peak overhead and was roasting the Outworld landscape; Tanya could feel the heat of it coming up through the ground underneath them. If there was one thing she hated more than the people and creatures of Outworld, it was the heat, the weather. It felt like the more unstable Outworld got with each passing decade, the hotter it became in response.

Which only pressed the theory that Outworld was a ticking time bomb.

Not just in regards to politics, but as a realm itself.

It didn't help that they were headed North towards the mountains, choosing to use the higher peak to their advantage. The rough terrain would provide plenty of places for them to hide, as well as force the Osh-Tekk to abandon their war wagons to continue on foot. The higher altitude would affect both of their elemental powers but not enough to be a detriment.

And if luck was on their side, they would have more climbing experience than any Osh-Tekk did.

The two of them could scale over the mountain ridge and be on the other side before the Osh-Tekk even made it to the first base.

They were halfway to the next trading post, the last one before they reached the mountains, when they heard it again.

The screaming.

The bellowing of war-horns that followed after.

It was coming from behind them- screaming somewhere either before or after the first outpost.

Only a few miles behind them.

Tanya felt that itch of coldness in her chest, the shaking in her hands again at the sound.

Whatever it was, whatever was causing the screaming, was getting close- and it was a lot faster than any Osh-Tekk patrol. It didn't shake the feeling that whatever patrol was currently being slaughtered was a lot closer than she thought it was, closer than she had noticed it being. A few miles were easy to cut with war wagons, which meant that the Osh-Tekk could have easily caught up to them in a matter of hours.

Perhaps it was like some kind of cursed blessing.

Tanya wanted to turn around and look, to see if she could see anything. They were at a higher vantage point now, climbing up the initial incline of the growing mountain ridge, there was a good chance they could catch a glimpse of whatever was causing the screaming. But the rational part of her objected; it outright refused to look back.

The fear made her think that if they looked at it, if they saw the cause of the screaming, then it would see them too.

And that that alone would make them its next target.

"What the fuck-"

The words were quiet, muffled under Rain's breath.

Not a question as much as it was a statement.

"Don't look," Tanya replied, as coolly as she could manage as she continued onward. "It's not our business."

* * *

Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it was related.

But halfway through the ongoing screams and dying war-horns, a storm broke out across the sky above them.

The bright Outworld sky was swallowed up by dark, swirling clouds that moved in from out of nowhere- seemingly conjured up by some kind of storm God. It was a twisted mess of a storm cell, strong enough to overpower the sun and suck the heat out of the air.

The two of them had managed to make it beyond the trading post at that point, which had seemingly deserted itself at the renounced screaming. They had made it to the root of the mountain ridge, cutting through the desert-like base that surrounded it before they made it up along one of the worn-down paths. There was no intention of them to use the marked out pathways, but with a storm and voices screaming at their backs, it was the easiest and quickest way up.

The mountain ridge provided numerous overhangs and caverns along the foot of its base, providing shelter against the rain that was quick to follow.

Sighing, Tanya pushed back the hood of her cloak as the two of them managed to settle into an open cavern just before the clouds broke open in a downpour.

Given the few lanterns hanging inside, she took it that this cavern was a well-used pit stop for the merchants that traveled over the ridge.

Again, not exactly something that worked in their favor.

But it was a small comfort to have some light in the dark.

She snapped her fingers and directed the small flame at her fingertips to the charred wicks, allowing the lanterns to give off a small warming glow.

It felt like she was losing her mind.

Something out there was hunting the Osh-Tekk, who were hunting them- so whatever that _thing_ was out there, it was also hunting them by proxy. While that thing was technically helping them with each Osh-Tekk patrol it took down, Tanya still didn't want to meet it. After hearing the screams and the war-horns for days now, she didn't even want to think of what was capable of pulling off such carnage.

She just wanted to keep moving, to keep putting as much space as they could between them and the Osh-Tekk.

But they had to stay here.

The downpour was too strong to walk through.

They would just get lost in it, or potentially hurt by it.

Tanya heard Rain give a different kind of sigh as he moved past her and she turned to watch as he pushed the hood of his cloak back as well, now pushing his fingers through his loose hair.

The sudden storm would give them some downtime to rest, but the weather would help to replenish his strength and power.

So at least there was some good news to be had.

Although it was hard to focus on it over the continued screaming that was echoing over the storm.

"Get some rest," Tanya started, as she walked back towards the mouth of the cavern, staring at the now muddled and unfocused horizon. It felt like the storm was hiding their positions now, and while there was no chance of her seeing any glimpse of what was going on, it felt safer to look out towards the faint screaming. "This might be the only chance you get- and the storm works out in your favor."

"Lucky me."

There was a sense of sarcasm in his voice but she chose to ignore it- for his sake.

Tanya stayed by the opening of the cavern, keeping an eye on the weather and waiting for the first chance they would have to get moving again.

But given the intensity of the downpour, she didn't foresee it giving up any time soon- which was something she would just have to accept.

Leaning against the rock wall, Tanya listened as Rain moved about somewhere behind her before she heard him settle down and go quiet. He would use his powers to pull energy from the rain, using it to regain his own strength, while also using it to speed up the healing process on his wound. And with a heavy downpour like this, it wouldn't take him long to recover.

He worked best without interference, without movement.

So for now, she would let him be on his own.

It would give her some time to herself anyways.

Once Tanya was certain that Rain was locked in his own trance, and would be until the storm was over, she gently tugged the pink veil out from where she had hidden it in her shirt.

Gingerly twisting the material around in her hands, Tanya lingered on the howling shriek from before- just before the storm broke out.

She couldn't shake the feeling that it had sounded familiar; too familiar even.

She knew it wasn't possible, that it was stupid to linger on, but if there was just one sound that would stick with her for the rest of her life, it was _that_ one. It wasn't just something that would spring up out of nowhere; it wasn't something that could be replicated, or something that someone else would know or recognize.

There just wasn't an explanation for it.

* * *

_The ear-splitting shriek just outside of her tent was enough to jerk Tanya out of a dead sleep._

_And the anger that might've been there, seeing as this was the first time she had slept in five days now, was washed out by the sudden beading of cold sweat on her skin. Her body felt tense; her skin pulled tight over rigid muscle as Tanya found herself already halfway to her feet. The heavy sleep had quickly turned into heavy weight in her legs as she felt them stiff underneath her now._

_The sound was still echoing in her ears despite the dead silence that had fallen over the camp._

_There was no other movement around her- no rush to alert, no calling from the night guards._

_It was like no one else had heard it but her._

_And she highly doubted that no one else cared about the noise either._

_Settling her weight on her feet, Tanya picked up her blades from nearby and slowly inched her way towards the tent opening- now loosened and fluttering in the night breeze. She could feel the heat of her Pyromancy energy building in her fingertips now as she reached out and pushed the tent flap out of her way, careful not to accidentally light it aflame as she did._

_As Tanya slowly stepped out of the tent, she noted that the rest of the camp was still quiet- with regards to the night guards who were still at their posts, snacking on the leftovers from dinner._

_"Did I wake you, Dearest?"_

_Tanya felt herself flinch at the question before she looked up to see Mileena walking towards her; the woman looked as though she had just returned from the other end of the camp. She didn't even hear Mileena leave the tent, which wasn't uncommon really. The Empress liked to take the occasional midnight walk between her sleeping spurts, to stretch her legs and work out her restless energy._

_Mileena had about as bad of a sleeping schedule as she did._

_"No, but something sure as hell did," Tanya remarked, allowing herself to tuck her blades at her waist now; she felt more relaxed with Mileena around, more willing to take up the rest of the camp on their nonchalant approach to the sound. It still felt like her hair was standing on end though. "Did you hear that scream just now?"_

_"Oh, you heard that?" Mileena mused, looking surprised by the question. "Sorry about that Dearest, there were a few scavenging Vampires around, I had to scare them off before they decided to get too close."_

_It took a few seconds before the mystery tied itself together._

_"You made that sound?" Tanya accused._

_"You have to be loud to scare off a Vampire," Mileena replied, looking oddly smug now. "They have sensitive hearing and it throws them off- it makes them scatter like little black cockroaches."_

_Tanya had seen the woman in battle plenty of times before, and had heard a chorus of different inhuman sounds escape from her. But she had never heard the likes of that shriek come from Mileena before. And even now, with the confirmation, she still had her doubts about it._

_After all, the night guards would've been more than enough to deal with some scavenging Vampires._

_But the Empress enjoyed going out of her way to cause mayhem herself._

_And given how none of the other Tarkatans reacted like she had, they must've known the screaming was just a scare tactic._

_"Would you like another demonstration?"_

_"No," Tanya hissed, much to the woman's amusement it seemed. "Just- warn me next time, or avoid doing it when I'm sleeping for once."_

_The subtle amusement the Empress had been enjoying was dashed for a moment as realization seemingly struck alongside her comment._

_"I'll make it up to you, Dearest," Mileena assured, as she moved towards her and then snaked around back into the tent behind her. "You may sleep in my bed for the night."_

_"I always sleep in your bed," Tanya reminded, chuckling now as she felt Mileena reach back out of the tent and paw at her arm- trying to get a holding grip on her bracers, which she had already taken off._

_"Dearest, I don't think what we do in my bed counts as sleep."_

* * *

It was hours before the storm even showed signs of letting up.

And then hours still before it actually did.

Tanya had found herself dozing off now and again- and despite chastising herself for it, she knew it was best if she caught up on sleep herself. The delay in their journey would mean a full night of traveling to make up for the lost time, and while it wasn't anything new by this point, it was still tiring nonetheless. As hard as the downpour was, it was soothing just the same, making it easy for her to feel comfortable enough to sleep.

But as she stood up and stretched, watching as the storm clouds began to break away, she watched as they disappeared almost as quickly as they had materialized in the first place.

And her eyes settled on the blood red sky that now hung above them.

Outworld wasn't new to this phenomena, and Tanya wasn't a stranger to it either.

But given the events from the passing morning, the sight of it still ran a cold chill down her back.

The air felt heavy too.

And Tanya felt a lingering metallic taste in her mouth when she breathed in.

"This isn't a good sign."

She looked over at the remark, noting that Rain was standing next to her now. He looked better than he had before; the storm had given him plenty of time to heal his injury to full and regain his energy back. Which meant that he would be able to walk without pain- and wouldn't pass out somewhere between here and the Living Forest.

And just as well, if they did run into another skirmish, he could use his powers again.

But she noted that something in his expression, something that seemed off.

"What's wrong?" Tanya questioned, although it seemed arbitrary considering their situation.

Rain seemed to hesitate before he held a hand out in front of him and summoned a water orb from his palm; a trick she had seen him do plenty of times before, and a rather useless one at that.

But this time, it wasn't water that hovered in the form of a ball in his hand.

It was blood.

Rain pulled water out of the environment around him, using it as a gauge. While it wasn't necessary to do given his natural summoning abilities, it was a workaround that kept him from overexerting all of his energy in battle. It was a way he could utilize his environment and the weather to his advantage, to get the most out of his power with the least energy spent.

And if blood was the defining liquid in the atmosphere, then it explained a lot.

It explained why the sky was red.

Why the air tasted metallic at the back of her throat.

"Was it like this before?" Tanya asked, as she reached over and touched her fingertips against the congealed blood- feeling the odd sense of warmth to the liquid. Rain couldn't control blood, that was Skarlet's area of expertise, but blood contained water and that much he had power over. "When you were healing?" she elaborated.

"No," Rain answered, closing his hand into a fist now, causing the blood ball to erupt in his palm- causing it to drip red between his fingers. "There were no issues with healing. I don't know what this is."

"Osh-Tekk blood," she offered.

Rain opened his hand now, allowing the rest of the blood to spill out before he shook it off of him.

"We should go."

* * *

The mountainside was clear, as was expected after a storm like that.

After all the screaming.

The terrain was soft unfortunately, but nothing that couldn't be traveled on; at most, it would just slow them down.

But by this point, what wasn't slowing them down?

Tanya gave one more look over her shoulder, surveying the wide stretch of landscape behind them- and took note of the stillness that resided over it.

* * *

It took them four days to clear the ridge at its thinnest point.

A feat made possible given how well traveled the mountainside was. Most of the paths were linear and cut through the mountain where it was easiest to walk on, which would've made them easy to track. But if they wanted to go elsewhere, if they wanted to take a path less travel and hidden, it would force them to climb- and that was not an option either of them wanted to do.

The mountainside provided a visual advantage and plenty of cover though, allowing them to follow the easy paths while also keeping an eye out for anyone following them. And should they have spotted smoke behind them, the choice to climb would've been at no contest.

Luckily, those four days were quiet.

And the only company they had were each other- and the blood sky that still remained, dark and rolling above them.

The Living Forest was visible on the horizon line now.

It wasn't the greatest place to aim for, but it was the safest location they had. Not to mention, the most strategic. The dense forest would force the Osh-Tekk to give up their convoys, lest they get their wagons stuck in the mud and overgrown roots. Just as well, the living trees had a dislike for vehicles trying to push through them- and Tanya had witnessed one smash a full carriage into splinters before, killing everyone inside of it.

While being hunted by a pack of Osh-Tekk warriors wasn't much better, it would still force the clan to be on foot.

It would also force them to carry only what they could, forcing them to cut down on their supplies.

Tanya didn't know how much experience the Osh-Tekk had with the Living Forest, considering most Outworlders did well to avoid it.

But she and Rain had traveled through the dense forestry before, and were knowledgeable on how to avoid getting killed by the sorcery-cursed foliage. Once more, she could only hope that their expertise would provide an advantage for them.

It took two days climbing back down the mountainside before Rain spotted the Osh-Tekk patrol below them; they were barely skimming the paths just outside of the forest that surrounded the bottom of the mountain. Just barely visible as well, Tanya wasn't sure how Rain had managed to see them to begin with- but she wouldn't complain.

As much as she had been downplaying the Osh-Tekk's abilities, it had been more out of comfort, out of trying to convince herself that they were still one step ahead of Kotal and his forces. But with each sighting, it felt like the noose was getting tighter around their necks now.

"Do you think they know?" Tanya questioned.

"They know they have the right area, but they can't pinpoint where we are," Rain answered. "It's going to make getting out of here more difficult."

Knowing their luck, the other patrol convoys would be making their way up the other mountainside, to prevent them from backtracking in a possible taunt to evade capture; they were trying to pinch them in, to force them down one path.

And it was beginning to feel like they were falling for it.

"How did they beat us here?" she asked.

"Kotal only sent his fastest soldiers- and they had to have traveled day and night to get here," Rain replied. "The advantage here is that there will only be a handful of Osh-Tekk down there, and they'll be exhausted by the travel. And if not, then they'll be hyped up on some kind of homemade drug to combat sleep-deprivation- which will make them reckless and easy to take down."

Tanya hadn't accounted much for the Osh-Tekk meeting them on this side, but Rain apparently did.

At least his experience as a former General was working out in their favor.

"They know what happened to the rest of their patrols," Tanya remarked. "Are they scared?"

"They didn't make a fire last night, I would've noticed," he spoke. "Even now, you can see them keeping their wagons close together while they're moving- it's too tight of a formation for travel, but necessary for on-ground battle. They're using them like a barricade. At this point, all of Outworld has been hearing the screaming and know that something is happening- but they don't know what. Not many people have seen the massacre for themselves either, ourselves included."

Rain paused and took another look at the movement in the distance, studying the brief glimpses of blue and yellow between the tree tops.

"They're scared, but that only makes them more dangerous to us."

* * *

They chose that following night to rest, switching shifts between them to keep an eye out for smoke or movement.

Neither of which they were confident that the Osh-Tekk would do, but they weren't willing to bet their lives on it.

Tanya could only catch glimpses of a yellow glow moving through the trees, the only visual hint that the war wagons below were still present. She watched each one carefully as they moved in and out of her line of sight; she thought she counted five, but it was hard to tell the difference between them as they moved. There could've only been three and she was just counting the same one twice- or there could've been seven and she had counted two torches as one.

It was hard to say.

She watched as one of the torches stopped, implying that the war wagon itself had stopped.

And it didn't move for several minutes, remaining in place, faintly flickering in the distance.

Minutes counted on however, and Tanya noted the other glowing lights now coming to a standstill, finally giving her a more accurate count on just how many wagons were waiting for them.

Five.

The Osh-Tekk could've stopped for any number of reasons, but they had been moving non-stop for hours now, pacing back and forth in the same patterns- almost making themselves out to be an obvious sighting.

The stillness continued, until one of the torches went out.

And one by one, the rest of the torches were put out in sequence.

It could've meant anything.

And yet, Tanya still felt a sense of cold pull across her skin.

* * *

They started the final descent before dawn, using the cover of the lingering night to hide them further.

Rain had taken notice of the missing torches but remarked that it was just another ploy; the Osh-Tekk knew that they knew about their presence, and were now hiding from them, turning it into a game of cat and mouse.

Tanya had her reserves about the tactic but said nothing.

She just wanted off this mountainside- and she wanted to be out of the Osh-Tekk's grasp.

* * *

They made it to the bottom of the mountain by that afternoon, managing to use the partial treeline to cover themselves.

The conjoined forest wasn't dense, but it was still too dangerous to put a war wagon through. It just meant they needed to be on the lookout for foot soldiers, which were easy enough to disengage- especially now that Rain was at full strength again.

They just needed to make it through this forest, across to the next valley, and then the Living Forest would be beyond that.

Just a few more days of playing the mouse and they would put this month-long run to an end.

But as the two of them began to free themselves from the mountain forest, Tanya spotted the Osh-Tekk war wagon sitting out in the open, blocking part of the path they needed to take.

As figured, the Osh-Tekk were already known about, so there was no sense in them hiding anymore.

But that was rather blatant, even on their part.

Unless it was just being used as a decoy to throw them off.

"The banners are torn off, the wheels aren't locked," Rain spoke next to her, "- and the horses are gone."

The horse remark hadn't occurred to her until then.

"They didn't stop willingly," Tanya replied.

"No."

There hadn't been any screaming from the night before, nothing that she could recall. It was possible that they were too high up the mountainside to hear it, but she didn't believe it. The screaming could travel for miles and still sound like it was right next to them; she didn't think something as little as a shift in altitude could change that.

"We should check it out," Rain continued- a remark that was immediately met with a look of scorn. "We haven't seen the massacre for ourselves yet- and we could use the supplies. These are just the first of the Osh-Tekk here and the others haven't arrived yet. We'll be burning time by looking, but the situation hasn't changed for a month now, and we might as well get some answers."

It was risky, even for him to bring up.

But he had a fair point.

And they could use the supplies.

They had only heard the rumors from the one outpost that said there weren't any survivors, and given just how long the screaming usually lasted, Tanya wasn't surprised. That wasn't to say that it wasn't possible that at least one person survived though. Not to mention, just walking straight into a potential Osh-Tekk convoy wasn't the greatest of ideas- no matter how dead it appeared.

What if whatever had attacked them was still there?

What if another convoy ran up on them while they were raiding?

They could risk another close encounter, but it wasn't beneficial for them.

Still, her curiosity on just what was happening to the Osh-Tekk was insufferable.

She needed to know.

"We make it quick," Tanya finally spoke.

"Of course."

The two of them approached the abandoned wagon with caution, keeping an eye out for any movement from inside of it. It was hard to say where the other four wagons were, but given how quiet the atmosphere was, they weren't anywhere close by- for now at least.

Tanya felt a cold chill run across her skin. The rational part of her brain kept telling her to get away from the wagon, to just keep moving North towards the Living Forest, to just stay focused on keeping herself alive.

And yet, she still continued onward.

Part of her had to know- had to see if there was any evidence.

Anything left behind.

The smell hit her before they were even close to the wagon, and Tanya felt her stomach practically twist in on itself. She had gotten so used to the smell of burning flesh that she had almost forgotten the wretchedness of what freshly slaughtered organs smelt like.

And it only got worse as they got closer.

She could see the details of the damages done now as she paused at the front of the abandoned wagon. The harness track at the front was torn to shreds, half ripped off of the mounting post, which only signified just how violent the attack must've been; there was very little blood around the harnesses, which meant despite the severity, the mounted animals themselves weren't harmed- just freed.

An unusual battle tactic.

As she stood at the front of the wagon, Tanya could see down the rest of the path behind it- down to where the other four wagons were scattered.

Two of them were tipped over.

One had been smashed into a tree.

The whole convoy had been taken out.

Staying back, Tanya watched as Rain walked around the wagon, seemingly inspecting it, before he reached out and grabbed at the door; she could see the hesitation just before he pulled it open.

And she watched as a gelatinous mess of blood and slewed organs spilled out around the man's feet.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been that surprising, but it was.

"That answers many questions," Rain remarked as he pushed the door back closed- closing it on a severed arm. "There's not a lot of creatures here that can do that- or that would do that."

No, there wasn't.

Anything and everything in Outworld had to eat.

And even the illusive Leechsnakes were sure to finish every bite of a meal.

"Let's just get what we can and go," Tanya reminded, although she had her doubts that there would be anything for them to take.

They couldn't carry much with them, especially given that they were bound to lose something in the Living Forest, but looking never hurt.

She remained at the first wagon, stripping the outside compartments for anything of use. There wasn't much, but she took a few trinkets she knew could be traded later on down the line- useless weight but she was trying to think ahead. Bandages and ointments were quickly confiscated as well. Everything else she found could only be deemed as junk, but she was happy enough with what she had managed to get.

By the time she finished with the last compartment, Tanya noticed that Rain had moved on to the second wagon.

It didn't even look like he was searching for anything, but rather just examining the carnage.

Typical.

She wanted to get in and get out, but he was just too curious to let it go.

Still, curiosity drew her to follow him.

The second wagon was in worse shape, with the doors having been ripped off of their hinges and part of outer wall collapsed inward. Considering how the first carriage had looked, the attack had to have come from the inside somehow- meanwhile this one had clearly been attacked from the outside. There were long carvings in the wood as well, strips of wood peeled back from all over the wagon, dictating that something had latched on and had fought its way inside.

It must've been terrifying.

The Osh-Tekk warriors on the inside had been pulled out through the caved in portion of the wagon and were laid out on the ground in partial heaps. They had been ripped apart and peeled open- things no normal fighter would do; things an animal would do, but not with this much structural damage done.

This wasn't an organized fight, but rather complete animalistic rage.

The partial bodies that remained showed signs of having been stripped and eaten- more so than the victims of the first wagon.

Tanya knew of only one species in Outworld that could level out carnage like this.

But while Tarkatans were noisy and loud in battle, they couldn't replicate the sounds they had been hearing for days on end now. Rain would've recognized their work anyways. Not to mention, she wasn't positive that there were enough of them left to pull off a siege like this.

She couldn't shake the feeling that there was one person who could though.

Tanya broke from her thoughts as she heard something off in the distance, breaking the silence of buzzing insects and internal disgust. And she felt her stomach sink as she looked up to spot the moving dust clouds on the horizon.

Another Osh-Tekk hunting party.

Much bigger than this one.

They would be slowed down by the wreckage on the path, but it won't be by much.

"We need to go-"

Rain didn't have to finish his words.

* * *

The Osh-Tekk were still off in the distance, but even just a visual warning hinted that they were too close for comfort.

Tanya considered lighting the carriages on fire as a warning, to further slow the approaching wagons down, but she thought better of it. There was no sense in wasting the energy and then having blame placed on her for the awaiting massacre. Not to mention, there was a good chance the fire would die down and the burnt wreckage would be easier to move out of the way by the time the Osh-Tekk got to it.

It was easier to just leave it as it was.

Rain pulled up water from under the ground and sank the wheels of each wagon into the mud, before he softened the dirt path behind them.

It wouldn't be enough to stop the horses, but it would be enough to stop the oncoming carriages- and there was a good chance the heavier mounts would be able to rip themselves free from the harnesses in the tug of war.

Hopeful thinking anyways.

* * *

Fear had made them set their sights on what was behind them.

Forgetting to remind them that what lied ahead of them wasn't easy either.

* * *

They made it to the valley, which was further than Tanya thought they'd make.

Further than the Osh-Tekk seemed to as well- not that it changed how things came to the inevitable end.

Coming to a sharp stop, Tanya watched as the Osh-Tekk warriors that had been lying in wait for them cut them off at the front. They must've known where they were going, where their end goal was, and had not only sent a hunting party to block the mountain road, but also one to hide in the valley. In any other situation, in any previous situation, the foot soldiers would've been nothing.

In fact, the first set of foot soldiers that ran across their path were taken out by Rain, who had drowned them in puddles at their own feet.

But the soldiers that came afterwards had managed to harness a few of the bipedal Jurassic creatures.

A dangerous, but rare Outworld breed; they couldn't be outrun, they were impervious to most weapons- and their teeth were known to cause toxic shock.

They simply could not outrun the creatures, nor could they risk getting bitten by them.

In the end, there were just too many war wagons, too many foot soldiers, too many Osh-Tekk.

It was the final push before the Living Forest and every painted warrior was out here, surrounding them, determined to cut them off from their potential exit.

And they had succeeded.

Tanya felt Rain against her back, felt the way the both of them were facing the surrounding warriors.

The position prevented a sneak attack, but at this point it was useless.

There was no reason to try and prevent anything when the Osh-Tekk had the numbers and the upperhand.

There was little to no chance that they would both get out of this, not this time.

Rain had the advantage over her in using his water teleportation to put some distance between him and the Osh-Tekk- not enough distance, but enough to work with. And knowing him, he was already thinking about how he could made the most of it; and the only answer was leaving her behind to buy himself the time he would need to successfully make a break for it.

In his defense, Tanya was also fully prepared to sell him out at the first given chance.

A month spent on the run with only each other as company was bound to end with only one of them surviving.

"Did you really think you were going to keep escaping me?"

Looking up at the question, Tanya watched as a few of the Osh-Tekk warriors parted to reveal Kotal Kahn amongst them. And she had to admit her surprise at seeing him with them, at seeing him all the way out here; she figured he would simply wait at home for them to be brought to him instead. Although, with little to no other opponents, he had no reason to fear leaving the capital unguarded without his presence.

It would also explain why the Osh-Tekks around them weren't already trying to gut them.

"I don't know what tricks you Edenians have been pulling, but it ends here."

"You think we're the ones responsible for all of the killings?" Rain questioned, stepping out from behind Tanya now and moving to face Kotal himself. "You think highly of us."

"Quite the opposite," Kotal Kahn replied. "As the last two remaining of Mileena's army, of her council, I will take pleasure in killing the both of you myself- and ending the mark you have plagued Outworld with."

Tanya watched as the Osh-Tekk leader took a step towards them, one hand reaching for the sword strapped to his back. They couldn't take out every Osh-Tekk around them, but they could take out one- and if the final battle was to be now, then there was only one opponent they needed to kill. It was risky, but they were dead regardless if they did or didn't do something; the least they could do was try, and at the very least, if they didn't outright kill Kotal Kahn, then they could still cripple him.

Force him to serve as a broken Kahn.

There was a twitch at her fingertips as she watched him step into the pool of water between them- a leftover pool still filled with the bodies of the Kahn's former foot soldiers.

It was an easy opening.

One that seemed to take shape as she watched the surface of the water ripple from the Osh-Tekk leader's footstep, and then watched as it rippled again under its own action. There was a pull of motion across the surface of the water as it began to bubble in the middle before the tension broke, causing the water to spew up into a geyser between them.

A last-ditch effort to do something to delay the inevitable.

But as Tanya watched Kotal Kahn step back at the display, she watched as Rain did so as well- looking just as equally shocked as the Osh-Tekk.

"Is that not-" Tanya started, unable to stop herself from asking.

"No."

No?

The answer didn't bole well.

Nor did the sight of the geyser turning from clear water to red.

There were only seconds between the pool going from ripple to eruption, from questioning to confusion, from blue to red, before Tanya heard that ear-splitting shriek again. She clapped her hands over her ears at the sudden sheer intensity of it, feeling how the noise seemed to vibrate inside of her now- vibrating amongst her organs and ribs, making it feel as though everything was shifting out of place.

There was this indistinguishable sensation of pressure that hit her, making her eyes throb in their sockets as Tanya felt a rush of heated energy rush over her.

Heated energy that quickly turned into cold sweat and embodying fear.

It was here.

Whatever this thing was, whatever it had been, it was here now.

The geyser blew out from the middle, erupting into a mess of liquid that now pooled out around them, splattering most of the Osh-Tekk in red now.

And soaking both her and Rain in it due to proximity.

Tanya could taste the metallic hint in her mouth again- and she wasn't surprised that it was blood.

Water into wine.

The eruption left a pool of blood all around them now.

A pool that once more rippled across its surface before an arm shot out of the wet space in front of them. Clawed fingers were spread wide, grasping out at the empty air before they came down and latched onto the soiled dirt- splashing more of the blood around. A pull of muscle turned the arm rigid before a second hand shot free, wide and grasping once more before it too dug into the same dirt.

A torrent of blood began to sputter and spray out from around the emerged arms before they began to pull themselves forward- slowly pulling the attached body out from beneath the pool.

The first thing Tanya noticed were the wings that came out just below the bare shoulders, masking the figure from behind as more and more of it began to crawl free. They were massive, leather-like appendages that spread out at the first given chance, helping the figure to gain balance as it finally pulled its legs free and stood up before them, slathered and dripping with blood still.

Maybe it was shock, a cold mix of adrenaline and fear.

But Tanya found herself staring at the back of the figure before her eyes slowly moved to observe what Kotal Kahn was experiencing.

And she watched as the man's expression moved from abhorred questioning to unrelenting shock.

"Impossible!"

"Oh, quite the opposite," the figure spoke, whispering in a tone that seemed mocking as she parroted the man's previous statement back to him. There was a vibration in the woman's voice, an odd thrill made from the throat as she spoke which only made the words seem even more mocking; and given the accompanied giggle, it seemed like the woman felt completely at ease despite the predicament.

Then again, if she had been the thing slaughtering the Osh-Tekk's so far...

Tanya felt her blood run cold as the figure slowly turned around to face them.

And she felt her heart beat slow as she stared back at an all too familiar face, as she watched fingers reach up and pull down on a pink veil- revealing teeth, lips, and a mouth that she was more than well-acquainted with.

Tanya watched as the figure put a finger to her lips, hushing a quiet 'shh' motion with a devilish grin, before the woman turned back to Kotal Kahn.

"You're scared, Kotal," the Vampiress spoke, "I can smell it on you."

"What _are_ you?" the Osh-Tekk leader pressed, looking well out of his once-powerful element now. "You should be _dead_, how are you like this?!"

"Oh, Kotal, Kotal, _Kotal_," the figure mused, speaking in a tone that seemed fitted towards a child. "It was really quite easy."

The resonating scream that came from Tanya's right was enough to make her jump, enough to make her grab Rain's arm in surprise as she watched one of the Osh-Tekk warriors get yanked down into one of the blood pools at his feet. She only just caught a glimpse of hands wrapped around the man's legs before he went down and under, disappearing in a splash of red.

Another scream came from her left as yet another Osh-Tekk was yanked under.

Tanya heard the pitched shriek from one of the mounted creatures and watched as it was yanked down to the ground as well- just enough for its rider to be pulled from the saddle and taken under. And when the creature kicked to get back up, Tanya watched as hands- _multiple_ hands- grabbed at the creature's neck and mouth, breaking its lower jaw before snapping its head back and leaving it dead.

The creature they didn't even risk to oppose had been killed in a matter of seconds, with bare hands that had left the tip of its snout touching its own back.

It didn't take long before there was more and more screaming, before it was all around them; a mix of Osh-Tekk, a mix of unseen screaming coming from underneath the blood itself.

But it was all the same.

It was all the same screaming they had heard before.

The same screaming that had been tracking them across Outworld.

Tanya knew now what was going on, what had been happening to the Osh-Tekk this whole time. She didn't know the whole story, she didn't know the how, she didn't know the plausibility but... that didn't matter right now.

Because right now, she got to watch as more and more figures began to come up through the blood now.

She got to watch as they pulled themselves free, emerging from the blood in full just as the first woman had.

And each figure was dressed in the same uniform; the one that Tanya knew so well.

It was Mileena.

But several of her, in multiple forms, in multiple bodies.

There were at least twelve of her from what Tanya could see as they slowly began to gather around her and Rain- and there seemed to be plenty more given how the Osh-Tekk warriors were still being pulled under.

Tanya felt her stomach twist as she watched one of the Osh-Tekk get pulled down, only to then re-emerge as a geyser of blood, loose organs, and separated body parts. And suddenly the scene of carnage from before, from inside of the wagon was beginning to make sense.

"After all, Kotal, do you really believe that Shang Tsung just made one of me?"

The once impending Osh-Tekk death circle was now reduced to nothing but carnage and shredded limbs.

There was only one Osh-Tekk left now.

Her heart was like a thick knot in her throat now as Tanya watched as each Mileena stood around them, surrounding them from the circle of splayed out carnage. Each of the figures were mirrors of each other, clones of one another, making it impossible to differentiate one from the other. Tanya was almost convinced that she was just seeing things, that there wasn't this many actually standing around them.

"Tell me, Kotal, how did it feel to be played like a fool?" one of the Mileena's spoke in question, emerging from behind Tanya, carrying a severed leg in her hands.

"D'Vorah played you like a puppet," another spoke, holding a separate leg in her grasp, "- and you danced to whatever she asked you to."

It didn't take Tanya long to realize that the severed legs the two Mileena's were holding were not blue like the Osh-Tekk.

They were yellow- and insect-like.

And such was confirmed when a third Mileena held up the former D'Vorah's head, holding it in one hand while her fingers from the other toyed with the open throat cavity. There was a squishing sound as the clone pushed her fingers up into the cavity, manipulating the muscles until she figure out how to make the jaw move.

"You _wound_ me, D'Vorah," the clone mocked, forcing the severed head's lips to move as she spoke.

"And now, it's our turn," the Vampiress spoke once more- the only figure amongst the clones who broke the mold. "Our turn to string you up like a puppet."

It was then that Tanya noticed the pieces of rope, the strings of wire that a few of the clones were holding, that they were emerging from the blood with.

Tanya felt a hand touch her arm and instinctively yanked it away, snapping around to see who had touched her- only to notice that it was one of the clones.

The only one not wearing a veil amongst the group.

"Run along, Dearest," Mileena spoke. "You don't need to see this."

Part of her wanted to- _needed_ to.

But there was a lot to handle here, and they had handled more than enough already.

[This wasn't the place nor time to argue either.]

Tanya gave a nod and slowly began to step away from the growing crowd, pulling Rain along with her.

"Let's go."

* * *

They made their way back to the dirt path, mostly in stunned silence.

Neither of them said a thing, not even when the screaming started behind them.

Tanya couldn't think of anywhere else to go, and since the Osh-Tekk were apparently taken care of now, there was no need for them to continue on towards the Living Forest anymore. Now they just... had nowhere to go really. They had been on the run for so long, with very few ideas of what they were going to do once they were past the Living Forest, it was hard to think of what they were going to do now.

Would they just go back to the way things were before?

Except they had spent ten years locked in a war- a war that was now no longer running.

So what normalcy they did have before was gone now.

And the life before that was living under Shao Kahn's rule.

The dirt path was now packed with Osh-Tekk war wagons, with the soldiers who had pulled in after the chase had started and were waiting for Kotal to return victoriously.

Except now, they were sprawled out across the dirt, mutilated and eaten.

There truly wasn't anything left of the Osh-Tekk now.

With the exception of the faint screaming still in the distance.

Tanya's legs felt weak and she found herself resting against the back of one of the abandoned wagons, trying to coax feeling back into her ankles. A painful combination of walking, climbing, and running in the past few days had overexerted her muscles- and now she was feeling the consequences of it. Or at least, that's what she was telling herself was the cause.

Rubbing a hand over her eyes, Tanya looked up to watch as Rain tossed off the cloak he had been wearing before he disappeared into a puddle of water at his feet; he re-emerged a few seconds later, clean of the blood he had previously been soaked in. She watched as he pulled his hair back once more, stringing it up into the ponytail it was supposed to be in.

He really did look odd without the veil.

Perhaps that was why he always wore it.

He seemed partly satisfied with the recovered look before he walked over to her, holding a hand out for her to take.

Tanya didn't- at least, not immediately.

"Would you rather bake in blood then?" Rain questioned. "Because you're all the more welcome to, but I won't be in your company for it."

After everything from the past hour alone, he was still as snarky as could be.

She took his hand after that, however- knowing that he would be petty enough not to make the offer again.

Rain carefully washed the blood off of her skin and out of her clothing, tedious with the work as he always was, before he pulled the water off of her- drying her off once he was finished.

And Tanya would be hard-pressed to admit that she felt better knowing the last few days of dirt, sweat, and grime, as well as blood, had been rinsed off of her skin. That wasn't to say that she would turn down a fully-involved shower though; it felt like she still needed to scrub herself clean after everything they had gone through, and then properly soak herself in a bath afterwards, preferably for a few days.

"Any thoughts?" Tanya questioned, breaking the silence between them.

"Your dead girlfriend is back and she brought a lot of identical company," Rain spoke.

Crude, but not wrong.

That didn't mean she appreciated it though.

"She implied that Shang Tsung made more than one of her," Tanya remarked instead. "Which appears to be the case, but how does she still know us? How are her memories still intact?"

"You'll have to ask her that yourself."

She needed to- she wanted to.

But something... something about this whole mess felt off to her.

Between sleepless nights and endless days, Tanya had once prayed that this whole ordeal was just a nightmare, that it was all just something that she could wake up from. She used to have dreams about Mileena, about having the woman back, warm and secure in her arms again. Tanya had long since given up in believing in Gods, but even she had once caught herself praying that their situation would change.

And it had.

The Osh-Tekk were gone.

And Mileena was back.

Everything she had asked for in the past month had come true.

But there was no sense of joy, no sense of relief; everything was drowned out by this cold, numbing sensation that had encapsulated her body. She didn't want to do anything anymore. She was so tired of running, of hiding, of having to alter her appearance just to save face between different towns; she didn't have the energy to feel anything else anymore.

She just wanted to go home.

Wherever that was.

* * *

It felt like the hours just kept dragging on.

Tanya wasn't even sure if hours had actually passed but that's how it felt- that's how it always felt with waiting, and this was the greatest waiting game as of yet. She couldn't deny that she had considered suggesting that they run away from this mess. But logic was quick to step in and remind her that they really had nowhere else to go and there was no telling if all of the Osh-Tekk had been wiped out.

Not to mention, if Mileena had been able to track them here, then she was capable of tracking them anywhere.

And running from this would only make them seem guilty.

[Of what? She didn't know.]

But just as Tanya had started to move again, getting the blood flowing back into her legs, she watched as Mileena stepped out from the brush and joined them on the dirt pathway.

She was chewing on something- something Tanya probably didn't want to know even though she had a very good guess on what it was.

It was odd how that sense of normalcy just seemed to wash over her.

There was a lot for her to say and yet... nothing.

Tanya still wasn't certain of what had happened, of what was happening even now.

It felt like she just shut down.

"I apologize for the wait," Mileena spoke, running the back of her hand across her left cheek as she talked- another common habit of hers. "Things took longer than expected, by my own decree of course. I'm sure there's a lot you'll want to ask, but let's start heading home first- there's a lot that needs to be done there, and it's best if we start as soon as we can."

"What happened to-" Tanya started, only to stop when Mileena raised a hand for her to.

"He got what was due," the woman interrupted, "and you can rest easy now that Kotal and his filthy tribe have been wiped out."

Perhaps so.

Outworld's largest tribe was now gone.

Simply slaughtered in a month's time.

Of all of the now stranded Osh-Tekk wagons, it was easy to tell which of them belonged to Kotal Kahn- and that was the one Mileena picked out for them to ride back to the capital in. They stripped it of Osh-Tekk markings and labels, removing the now unnecessary war banners, and reducing it to nothing more than an average Outworld carriage.

From a strategic standing, it was the safest way for them to travel across Outworld now, to avoid suspicion.

Although, Tanya was having a hard time figuring out just who they would need to avoid suspicion from.

Tanya watched as Mileena climbed into the wagon's cabin first before she followed after, feeling the hard lump of her heart in her throat now as she seated herself across from the born-again Empress.

Rain opted to stay outside, to be the one to lead the horses back to the capital- which Tanya had forgotten was a necessary role to take. She knew that Rain was the more qualified one to do so, but she wondered if he opted for it to avoid the potential awkwardness inside of the cabin. There was still a window between the rider's seat and the cabin, so whatever was spoken about could still be heard from his end.

Something that Tanya felt she would need to keep in mind.

She found herself staring at Mileena, just watching the woman who now sat across from her in the spacious cabin. Mileena still looked the same; she was dressed the same, hair still styled as it was- nothing was different, nothing had been changed at all. But she knew that couldn't be true. Tanya had been there, she had seen the aftermath.

Something should be wrong, something should be off.

And yet, the only thing she could pinpoint was the scar missing from Mileena's left cheek, from where the woman had yanked out an impacted tooth. Even then, it was such a minuscule thing- and Tanya wasn't convinced that the scar wasn't just hiding in the dim light of the carriage, just out of her sight.

"So it's been you this whole time," Tanya finally spoke, needing to break the unnecessary silence that had been growing. "You've been the one killing the Osh-Tekk all over Outworld."

"_We_ have been," Mileena corrected, simply at that. "They are easy to hunt."

"How?"

"They are loud and bright- and not as camouflage as they might think."

"That's _not_ what I meant," Tanya remarked, rather sharp with the words. Her cut tone might've been a little too much given the still sensitive circumstances, but at the same time given those same circumstances, she needed to know. And she needed to know _now_.

Mileena scratched at the teeth on her right cheek, another common gesture made when the woman was thinking. "Come now, Dearest, as I said before, do you really think that Shang Tsung only made one of me in his Flesh Pits?"

The remark had been spoken before- but not by her, not by this variant anyways.

And it was a thought that hadn't fully occurred to Tanya before.

She knew Mileena to be the only successful version of gene combination between Kitana and Tarkatan.

Shang Tsung was a prideful creator; he only accepted the best versions of his work. So why would he make more than one of his own creation? Especially clones of his most unique design?

"I shouldn't be surprised that Shang Tsung made back-ups," Mileena continued, seemingly speaking from Tanya's own thoughts. "Shao Kahn wanted a daughter who shared his own violent streak and need for battle, which would inevitably lead to death sooner or later. I can't speak for him, but I can only assume that Shang Tsung wanted to make sure that there would always be another me available should something happen."

"But how?" Tanya pressed once more.

The woman answered her with a shrug at first, before elaborating. "I was reborn in the Flesh Pits, simple as that," Mileena offered, although the situation would say otherwise. "It's where I was initially created- and I suppose it is where I will always go should something happen to this body. All I know is that I woke up there and that's where I found the other versions, the other clones of me. They were asleep but completely functional, so I woke them up."

Tanya didn't find it hard to believe that Shang Tsung would create back-ups, perhaps in case Shao Kahn didn't like his original design.

But the fact that these clones had survived for this long, untouched and undisturbed, was incredible.

She had long thought that the Flesh Pits had been raided and destroyed after the Sorcerer's death. Then again, there was a lot of fear, a lot of superstition created around the area. Even the stupidest of Outworlders knew not to venture close to the former experimental grounds.

Still, Tanya figured at least one person would've tried to see what still remained of the former Sorcerer's work.

Although, to be fair, perhaps someone had... and simply did not live to spill the secrets.

"Shang Tsung made many versions of me," Mileena continued, "- and not just Tarkatan either, although that was his favorite design."

Given that Tanya had come face-to-face with the Vampire-spliced version of the woman, she wasn't entirely surprised by the remark. Although it did begin to give thought to just... how many other combinations there were, how many there could be. And considering just how erratic Shang Tsung was, there was no telling where the man drew a line with his work.

Tarkatan and Vampire were confirmed.

But what about Shokan? Centaur? Shang Tsung had ready access to both of those.

Saurian? A little harder to grasp, but not impossible.

"There are... a lot of you," Tanya agreed. "Do they all operate on free will? How do you know they'll follow you?"

One Mileena had been enough to spread fear and obedience across Outworld.

But multiple?

Each with their own design and thought process?

"We share a hivemind," Mileena answered. "I control them- to a degree."

That just introduced a whole different ordeal.

Which just made everything much more difficult to take in.

There was a lot to come to terms with.

Just that morning, Mileena didn't exist.

And now- now she did, but in multiples, in different forms- each with their own capacity to move and think.

"I understand that's a lot to take in," Mileena started.

Tanya heard herself lightly scoff in response, and in turn, heard the way Mileena chuckled at her; another gesture that they had once shared between them- and apparently still did.

"I don't think you can even begin to understand what I'm going through right now," she started, abet a little sharper than she intended. "We've been running from the Osh-Tekk for a month now, Outworld feels like it's in chaos, and we just kept hearing that... screaming. The only thing I cared about was getting past the Living Forest- that's all I wanted to do when we climbed down that mountain this morning. And now- there's _this_."

She made a pointed remark with the word, even though she gestured to nothing with it.

Although she was pretty certain that it was a given what she was talking about.

There was anger in her voice, mostly misplaced.

There was still anger inside of her from them having been caught by the Osh-Tekk before; there was anger from knowing that all of their planning, all of their head starts, and close battles had equated to nothing in the end. And had this... odd, freak event not occurred, she and Rain would've been dead at Kotal's hand; and without them working, without them fighting, there was no chance of ever seeing Edenia's return.

But now all of that anger had nowhere to go.

It had turned into frustration, into confusion now; the lack of an outlet was causing it to rot inside of her.

And now she was putting it out out of desperation to get rid of it.

Tanya took a hard breath to calm herself, feeling the way her skin itched like it was still coated in blood. "When I woke up this morning, you didn't exist," she continued, hearing the quiet tone of her voice now, hearing the exhaustion that had taken place over frustration. "But now you do- and there's a _lot_ of you to account for. There is you in front of me, but I know there's more than a dozen of you behind me as well. So how am I suppose to know?"

"Suppose to know what?" Mileena questioned; her own tone now matching the quiet hints.

"... That you're _my_ Mileena," Tanya replied. "I saw what happened to mine and I thought that was it, I thought that I would never see her again- but now there's you. And there's more than just you. Is mine really gone, or am I just supposed to pick a new one?"

She used to tease Mileena by calling her a manufactured wife.

And Mileena had retaliated by calling her so high-maintenance that she needed to have a wife made just in order to handle her.

Tanya supposed they were both cruel to one another in some regards, but neither of them were wrong either.

But in this moment of clarity, she found herself wondering if the Mileena in front of her was just the next one on the assembly line.

Mileena cocked her head at the question before she corrected her posture, before she leaned forward and offered a hand to her. Admittedly, Tanya found herself hesitating to take it, but she did; and she found the firm grip that held onto her eliminated the sudden fear that the woman would be taken from her sight again.

She felt a gentle tug from Mileena's hand and pushed herself from her seat before she found herself settling down into the woman's lap. Straddling Mileena's legs, Tanya felt the woman's arms wrap around her as she sank in against her, tucking her head into the born-again Kahn's neck.

"Oh, My Dearest," Mileena whispered, a familiar soothing tone in her voice as she cradled her. "I was lost in only one physical form, I still retain all of my memories. Everything might feel different to you, but to me it is still all the same."

They were each on different ends of this situation.

Mileena had a new body, a new army of clones, all of which were fit to look and move like she did. A gracious situation that did not come without the apprehension of suddenly being alive again, the confusion in seeing yourself in similar and different bodies.

And her, still in mourning but now unsure of who she was supposed to be mourning.

Tanya knew she should've been more in this moment- more excited, more emotional, more anything.

But she was so tired.

She was relieved beyond anything she felt she could comprehend, but it felt like her mind couldn't process anything more.

"I had to force myself to think about the future, to think about how I was going to keep myself alive," Tanya spoke, thinking out loud for once. "And now the future keeps changing every time I think I know where to go and how to get there. It doesn't feel like I can live in the present anymore, I can't just sit still- I have to keep moving."

"It will come back to you," Mileena replied, one hand gently caressing the curve of Tanya's back now. "From here on, it will only be us- no one else but us and Outworld. That is all we will need to plan for."

It was odd just how soothing those words felt.

Although perhaps it was the combination of the woman's fingertips gliding up and down her back, the soothing brush of Mileena's lips against her shoulder- teeth included. Tanya found herself getting choked up over hearing Mileena's voice again; the quiet hush of the woman's tone was all it took to convince her that she didn't want Mileena to stop talking, not anytime soon- not even when they make it back to the capital.

"And there will be a lot we need to plan for," the woman continued, "- I'll need your guidance in putting it all together."

Already there was this sense of calm with the new hint of normalcy between them.

With the slow accepting realization that she had her Empress back with her.


End file.
